A method for producing long-term bendable glass material includes: bending a glass material in a bending radius in a range of 1 mm to 10.sup.7 mm; storing the bent glass material for a time period of at least 1 day; inspecting at least a portion of the bent glass material for damage after the storing; and classifying the inspected bent glass material as a reject if damage is detected or as a long-term bendable glass material if no damage is detected.

A sintered porous cordierite-based glass-ceramic material is made using mainly three natural starting materials which are silica sand, kaolin clay and magnesite in addition to little boric acid is described. Upon melting at 1400-1450 C., this combination of raw materials and boric acid forms transparent brown glass which after solidification by quenching is then crushed and reduced to powder having a median particle size diameter less than 65 microns. This brown glass powder is consolidated, for example by compaction, to form a green body for sintering. Sintering of the green body at temperatures between about 1000 C. and 1300 C. in the period from 1 min to 60 min to produce porous cordierite glass-ceramic material containing a 56% porosity. The said material have density, microhardness and CTE suitable for use in various technical fields such as light insulation refractor material and in filter for vehicle exhaust.

The present application relates to a method for fabricating a vehicle interior trim part. The proposed method comprises the step of providing a glass panel with a backside and a first and a second region. In a further step, a first stiffener is attached to the first region of the glass panel. Thereby, a stiffened region of the glass panel is formed. The method further comprises the step of bending the second region of the glass panel by cold forming so that a bent region of the glass panel is formed in a region adjacent to the stiffened region. The method further comprises the step of holding the glass panel in shape using a means of fixation.

A glass sheet used in the making of an aircraft windshield is shaped using the cut-to-size method instead of the out-after-bend method. In a preferred aspect of the invention the cut-to-size method is practiced using a bending iron having a sheet shaping rail having a stationary shaping rail portion mounted on a support member and an articulating shaping rail portion pivotally mounted on the support member for movement from a non-shaping position to a shaping position.

Methods of forming a glass article are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of forming a glass article includes translating a pulsed laser beam on a glass substrate sheet to form a laser damage region between a first surface and a second surface of the glass substrate sheet. The method further includes applying an etchant solution to the glass substrate sheet to remove a portion of the glass substrate sheet about the laser damage region. The method may further include strengthening the glass substrate sheet by an ion-exchange strengthening process, and coating the glass substrate sheet with an acid-resistant coating. Also disclosed are methods where the laser damage region has an initial geometry that changes to a desired geometry following the reforming of the glass substrate sheet such that the initial geometry of the laser damage region compensates for the bending of the glass substrate sheet.

Presented is a method for the surface treatment of objects utilizing thermal plasma, including cascade plasma, and a wrap, such as tape or foil, where the tape or foil attracts the specific part of the plasma which produces a heat necessary to produce the desired treatment. The specific surface treatment may include, but is not limited to, hard-facing, brazing, welding, other types of joining operations, glass bending or forming, glass texturing, coating and surface reconditioning.

A long-term bendable glass material includes a glass material having a bending radius in a range of 1 mm to 10.sup.7 mm. The glass material is structured such that a number of breaks developing over a course of time after a storage period of at least one day displays a remaining probability of breaking of less than 0.1 for a storage time period of a maximum of half a year.